Virgin Galactic today conducted the first powered flight of its new SpaceShipTwo spaceplane, the VSS Unity. The craft made seven previous glide tests, dropped from above 40,000 feet by the mothership WhiteKnightTwo, over the course of more than a year of testing leading up to this morning’s rocket-powered flight test. Unity also broke the sound barrier for the first time, hitting a top speed of Mach 1.87 during the powered flight.

WhiteKnightTwo took off from Mojave this morning at 8:02 a.m. PDT and carried the VSS Unity up to about 46,500 feet in altitude. The mothership then dropped SpaceShipTwo, which shortly after fired up its hybrid rocket engine for the first time, burning nitrous oxide and HTPB compound. The spaceplane began an 80-degree climb, accelerating up to Mach 1.87 in the 30 seconds of engine burn. — Popular Mechanics

VSS Unity completed her first supersonic, rocket-powered flight this morning in Mojave, California. Another great test flight, another step closer to being #NMReadypic.twitter.com/hVde2oAZWt

This is the second time NASA is relying on a used Falcon 9 rocket to get equipment to the space station, and it’s the third time a used Dragon cargo capsule will carry supplies to the ISS, as well. — The Verge

Update 4:45 p.m. EDT: SpaceX successfully launched a Dragon spacecraft filled with supplies and science experiments for the International Space Station. The launch was nominal, and the Dragon spacecraft successfully deployed its solar arrays. The Dragon spacecraft will now undergo a two-day flight to the ISS, arriving at about 7:00 a.m. EDT on Wednesday, April 4.

Rocket Lab Sets Date for First Commercial Launch of its Electron Rocket

US spaceflight startup Rocket Lab is officially open for business and has scheduled its very first commercial launch for later this month. The company will launch its small Electron rocket with payloads from two paying satellite operators on board — just three months after completing a second test flight of the vehicle. The upcoming mission will initiate the beginning of customer operations for Rocket Lab, which claims to have a busy manifest for this year and next. — The Verge

Rocket Lab’s Electron rocket takes off from New Zealand during its second test flight Image: Rocket Lab

Self-described ‘serial entrepreneur’ behind the Aurora Station says it is selling the astronaut experience and plans to open the “first luxury hotel in space” by late 2021.

Orion Span’s compact Aurora Station – at 35ft-by-14ft its interior will be comparable to that of a Gulfstream jet, the company said – is projected to accommodate four travelers and two crew members for 12-day stays 200 miles above the earth. Guests will be charged $9.5m each, or about $791,666 a night. Refundable deposits of $80,000 can now be made online.

The founder Frank Bunger – described by his own company as “a serial entrepreneur and technology start-up executive” – told Bloomberg: “We want to get people into space because it’s the final frontier for our civilization.” — The Guardian

Journey to Mars Overview

NASA is on a journey to Mars, with a goal of sending humans to the Red Planet in the 2030s. That journey is already well under way.

For decades, the agency and its partners have sent orbiters, landers and rovers, dramatically increasing our knowledge about the Red Planet and paving the way for future human explorers. The Curiosity rover has gathered radiation data to help us protect future astronauts, and the upcoming Mars 2020 rover will study the availability of Martian resources, including oxygen.

There is more to learn as we expand humanity’s presence into the solar system: Was Mars once home to microbial life or is it today? Can it be a safe home for humans? What can the Red Planet teach us about our own planet’s past, present and future?

Building on the robotic legacy, the human exploration of Mars crosses three thresholds, each with increasing challenges as humans move farther from Earth: Earth Reliant, the Proving Ground, and Earth Independent. — NASA

Mars as seen by NASA’s Viking 1 orbiter. Credit: NASA/JPL

NASA Awards Contract to Build Quieter Supersonic Aircraft

NASA has taken another step toward re-introducing supersonic flight with the award Tuesday of a contract for the design, building and testing of a supersonic aircraft that reduces a sonic boom to a gentle thump.

Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Company of Palmdale, California, was selected for the Low-Boom Flight Demonstration contract, a cost-plus-incentive-fee contract valued at $247.5 million. Work under the contract began April 2 and runs through Dec. 31, 2021.

Under this contract, Lockheed Martin will complete the design and fabrication of an experimental aircraft, known as an X-plane, which will cruise at 55,000 feet at a speed of about 940 mph and create a sound about as loud as a car door closing, 75 Perceived Level decibel (PLdB), instead of a sonic boom. — NASA

Prototype Satellite Launched on SpaceX Rocket Will Try to Clean Up Space Junk

On the whole, space is mostly empty, but the space around the Earth is anything but. Earth’s orbit is full of thousands of satellites, pieces of debris, and junk from the thousands of rocket launches over the past few decades. This presents a serious problem for future satellites: Any one of them could be randomly taken out by a flying piece of space junk.

The only way to solve this problem is to clean up space, but that’s easier said than done. Plenty of organizations, including NASA and the Chinese and Japanese space agencies, have developed their own prototype space debris catchers. On Monday, one such debris catcher, named RemoveDEBRIS, was launched into space and will undergo testing over the next few weeks. — Popular Mechanics

NASA’s Mission to Touch the Sun Arrives in the Sunshine State

NASA’s Parker Solar Probe has arrived in Florida to begin final preparations for its launch to the Sun, scheduled for July 31, 2018.

In the middle of the night on April 2, the spacecraft was driven from NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, to nearby Joint Base Andrews in Maryland. From there, it was flown by the United States Air Force’s 436th Airlift Wing to Space Coast Regional Airport in Titusville, Florida, where it arrived at 10:40 a.m. EDT. It was then transported a short distance to Astrotech Space Operations, also in Titusville, where it will continue testing, and eventually, undergo final assembly and mating to the third stage of the Delta IV Heavy launch vehicle.

Parker Solar Probe is humanity’s first mission to the Sun. After launch, it will orbit directly through the solar atmosphere – the corona – closer to the surface than any human-made object has ever gone. While facing brutal heat and radiation, the mission will reveal fundamental science behind what drives the solar wind, the constant outpouring of material from the Sun that shapes planetary atmospheres and affects space weather near Earth. — NASA

A Third of Young Millennials Are Confused About This Incontrovertible Fact

Only 66 percent of 18- to 24-year-olds in the U.S. are confident that the world is round, according to a new national survey.

The findings don’t necessarily indicate an epidemic of flat-Earthism, as only 4 percent of the 18- to 24-year-old age group said they actually believe the world is flat. Rather, there seem to be a relatively large number in this age group who are willing to entertain doubts: 9 percent said they had always believed the world was round but were recently having doubts, 5 percent said they had always believed the world was flat but were becoming skeptical of that conclusion and 16 percent just weren’t sure.

Flat-Earthers believe that the Earth is a flat disc ringed by an ice wall. Credit: Ian Cuming/Getty

Chinese Space Station Tiangong 1 Falls to Earth

The space station disintegrated in the atmosphere over the South Pacific.

China’s prototype space station, whose name translates as “Heavenly Palace 1,” met a fiery end in Earth’s atmosphere today (April 1), breaking apart and burning up in the skies over the southern Pacific Ocean at about 8:16 p.m. EDT (0016 April 2 GMT), according to the U.S. Strategic Command’s Joint Force Space Component Command (JFSCC).

“The JFSCC used the Space Surveillance Network sensors and their orbital analysis system to confirm Tiangong-1’s re-entry,” U.S. Air Force officials wrote in a statement. — Scientific American

Astronomers Use a Quirk of Physics to Spot the Most Distant Star Ever Seen

There are stars too faint to see in the night sky just a few light years away, yet a chance cosmic event gave us a glimpse of a star that would have otherwise been completely invisible due to its immense distance from Earth—a whopping 9 billion light-years away.

A paper today in Nature Astronomy reports the discovery of the star, called MACS J1149 Lensed Star 1, or Icarus informally. Finding such a distant star is normally a tall order, but a larger object happened to pass in front of its home galaxy. When a large object passes in front of another, its gravitational well bends space around it and can act like a giant magnifying glass in the sky. — Popular Mechanics

NASA, ESA, AND P. KELLY (UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA)

NASA Has a Plan to Put Robot Bees on Mars

NASA has two teams of researchers working to design a robotic bee that can fly on Mars.

The space agency announced the project on March 30. It’s in its early stages, but the idea is to replace modern rovers — which are slow, bulky and very expensive — with swarms of sensor-studded, fast-moving micro-bots that can cover much more ground at a relatively low cost.

Anticipating Visitors? The Moon is Set to Receive Its Own Mobile Phone Network Next Year

If and when humans do land on the moon to start a colony there, how is everyone going to communicate wirelessly? Here on Earth, people rely on mobile phone networks that are scattered but interconnected all across the planet. A similar system is now going to be built on the moon as well, thanks to an effort that’s going to begin some time in 2019.

The new project, which is being spearheaded by Vodafone and Nokia, will lead to the creation of the very first 4G LTE mobile network on the moon itself. It’s part of a much bigger “Mission to the Moon” that is going to be conducted by the Berlin-based Part Time Scientists (PTScientists), who are planning to launch one lander and two small rovers from Cape Canaveral, Florida, with help from SpaceX. The mission is scheduled to happen during the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing mission orchestrated by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). — Space News

A Dark Version of ‘Lost in Space’ Is Coming to Netflix This Month

Netflix will launch a reboot of “Lost in Space” on April 13 — and you can expect a much darker, more intense tone than the lighthearted feel of the original 1960s series, its screenwriters say.

“Lost in Space” was a CBS show that ran between 1965 and 1968, which overlaps with NBC’s run of the original “Star Trek” (1966-1969). While “Star Trek” focused on a military-style crew, “Lost in Space” examined a space journey’s effects on the Robinson family, who were on their way to Alpha Centauri, the nearest star system to our own. The family’s ship was sabotaged, and they lost their way, leading to 83 episodes’ worth of adventures.

The Netflix reboot’s first (and, so far, only) season will include 10 episodes. It has already made some changes to the story, including swapping the gender of one of the main characters, Dr. Smith. (The character was male in the original and is female in the reboot.) A Netflix trailer released March 6 shows a ship exploding with the Robinson family on board, leaving them stuck on a remote planet. — Space.com

Connect with Rod Martin

Rod is one of our nation’s leading minds. He’s smart, original, and very committed—a combination that one rarely finds.Peter ThielPayPal, Founders Fund, Facebook, Palantir

Rod Martin and [former Howard Dean campaign manager] Joe Trippi are America’s two foremost experts on online politics.Annual Bipartisan Conference of George Washington University’s Graduate School of Political Management

Rod Martin is a Reaganite-Thatcherite conservative…[and] a man who has spent much of his life ministering to and working for the benefit of others. I know Rod as an advocate for freedom, a leader who understands the real changes we need in Washington, and who has the drive and ability to make those changes happen.Steve ForbesPresident and CEO, Forbes; Former Presidential Candidate

Rod Martin is the kind of dynamic leader who has the knowledge, ability and experience to lead us successfully into the 21st Century. His vision for America is compelling.Gov. Mike HuckabeeFormer Arkansas Governor and Presidential Candidate

Rod Martin literally wrote the book on excellence. Humble yet brilliant, a man of love and compassion, with penetrating clarity he illuminates the world around us, and we are both stirred and enlightened.Dr. Gil AmelioExecutive Committee, AT&T; Former CEO, Apple Computer and National Semiconductor

Rod Martin has a proven track record of overwhelming success. I believe in him strongly.Dr. Ronnie FloydPresident, The Southern Baptist Convention

Rod Martin is a born leader and an outstanding political mind. Anyone who takes him on is going to have a serious fight on their hands.Dick DresnerCelebrated International Political Consultant, Credited With Boris Yeltsin’s 1996 50-Point Turnaround Re-Election

Rod Martin is a man of uncommon vision and character. Ever since I first worked alongside Rod in the early days of PayPal, I’ve been struck by his powerful vision for the future. Rod understands the intersection of technology, politics and culture in a way that few others do.Eric JacksonFormer Chief Marketing Officer, PayPal.com; Author, The PayPal Wars; Founder and CEO, CapLinked.com

Rod Martin wears with uncommon grace an uncanny ability to link his vigorous faith to the practical challenges of both the business world and the political arena. Yet the respect he shows for others carries a warmth and modesty that are both too rare among those who are strong advocates of feisty positions.Joel BelzFounder, World Magazine; Former Chairman of the Board, Covenant College

America badly needs more leaders who really get the future. We need more Rod Martins.Randy TateFormer Deputy Whip, U.S. House of Representatives

Rod Martin is a modern day philosopher-statesman. He is a capitalist intellectual, a conservative iconoclast, a gentle adversary and a kind prophet. He inspires us towards a fresh national vision built upon the original founding principles.José GonzálezPresident, Semila

Rod Martin is not only effective and efficient, but he is also perceptive, wise and gracious. He gets things done. He is a great friend and a great ally.Dr. Ted BaehrPublisher, MOVIEGUIDE®; Chairman, Christian Film and Television Commission

Rod is one of the sharpest, most gracious men I know, and one of the most gifted political thinkers today. His ability to analyze issues and communicate thoughtful insights on them have earned him the respect of people across the political spectrum.Dr. Tom AscolExecutive Director, Founders Ministries, Southern Baptist Convention

I am proud to have been Rod Martin’s friend for a quarter century, and I can tell you that he is one of the finest men and most outstanding leaders in our church and in our country today. He has a knack for turning everything he touches to success.Hon. Paul PresslerRetired Justice, Texas Court of Appeals; Past President, Council for National Policy

Rod Martin is a cornucopian entrepreneur and eutropic thinker whose influence radiates through an array of companies, institutions, movements and churches. A renaissance American, he is also a prolific friend of freedom and faith around the globe.George GilderFounding Father of Supply-Side Economics, Globally-Recognized Technology Guru

If Rod Martin represents the next generation of leaders, America has nothing to worry about.Hon. John Paul HammerschmidtU.S. House Republican Leadership, 1967-1993

A leader and a servant, in public life and in private, Rod Martin strides at the top of his profession, and has nowhere to go but up. He is in the truest sense of the word ‘outstanding’.Hugh O'BrianLegendary Actor; Founder, Hugh O'Brian Youth Leadership (HOBY)

Rod Martin is undoubtedly one of the most accomplished thought leaders today. He is a wonderful mentor, a humble role model, and a deep inspiration for the next generation of scientific innovators and entrepreneurs.Dr. Harald OttOtt Laboratory for Organ Engineering and Regeneration, Harvard Medical School

Rod’s achievements pale beside his character and his brilliance. He sees what others can’t. He leads when others won’t.Jane Russell"40 Most Iconic Movie Goddesses of All Time", Glamour

Rod Martin is one of America’s finest young minds.Dr. Edward TellerFather of the H-Bomb